We stand at a transformative moment in healthcare. Artificial intelligence is moving from theory to practice, shaping the way we diagnose, treat, and engage with patients. While much of the AI conversation focuses on technology, today our focus is on the humans at the centre of care: the clinicians and their patients. This episode explores how AI can transform the NHS by driving efficiencies and productivity—core priorities in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan—while continuing to deliver personal, meaningful care. Key questions include:

• How can AI help enhance the clinical experience and enable clinicians to focus on what matters most?
• What new opportunities arise for clinicians to help strengthen their connection with patients as technology becomes central to healthcare delivery?
• How can AI continue to evolve so patients feel connected and empowered throughout their health journey and in partnership with clinicians?

Speakers

• Moderator: Tim James, Director and Clinician Executive, Oracle Health UK
• Panellists:
  • Dominic Cavlan, Clinical Lead for Acute Medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust
  • Deirdre Lyons, Consultant Gynaecologist, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trus

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Episode Transcript:

00:30 – 2:31 Tim James: Thank you for joining us. My name is Tim James, Director and Clinician Executive at Oracle Health in the U.K., and I'm your host and moderator for today's discussion.

Today, we take an in-depth look at the transformative experiences of two U.K. customers who are among the first to use Oracle Health Clinical Agent note generation in an outpatient care setting.

These early adopters share valuable insights from their direct involvement in the design and testing of this innovative technology. They discuss how AI has supported frontline patient care at their hospitals, highlighting the use of Oracle Health Clinical AI Note Generation to streamline documentation, elevate note accuracy and quality, and ease cognitive and administrative burden.

This supports real-time clinician decision-making and helps strengthen the accuracy of diagnosis and care plans. Together, we'll explore how this innovative solution is redefining healthcare delivery and what it could mean for the future of care and patient interactions.

Joining us today from the U.K., I am delighted to welcome our renowned experts: Dominic Cavlan, Clinical Lead for Acute Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust, and Deirdre Lyons, Consultant Gynecologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

Welcome to you both. Let's start with the first question about your experience rolling out the Clinical AI Agent Note tool. As practitioners, can you share some specific features of the Oracle Health Agent tool that have helped enhance your daily workflow, where you've seen the strongest adoption so far, and what you believe has enabled its success? Let's start with Dom.

2:32 – 4:42 Dominic Cavlan: I can probably share some experiences. I run an AI patient and technology clinic, and for our new patients, we allow 45 minutes per appointment. That's a long time spent speaking with patients, which also leads to a long period of time documenting what we've discussed.

With this kind of appointment, I know I can press the button to record our conversation, and then I find myself, when I finish with a patient, realizing we've been speaking for 35 to 40 minutes. Then, instead of facing another half hour of documentation, I can efficiently turn that into something to share with GPs, colleagues, or the patients themselves.

I finished my Monday afternoon outpatient clinic on time regularly for the first time in a decade. And it's not only during clinic time—previous workflows for producing correspondence involved thirdparty apps and dictation software with multiple steps and people involved. In terms of adoption, we've run our pilot, and a number of specialties have really taken this on board, including Orthopaedics, Gastroenterology, and Dermatology—some of which were already quite mature in their use of Millennium.

We introduced this with our Red Shirts training program, training people live in the room with the patient present. That hands-on approach was one of the big things that got this rolling quickly.

4:42- 4:48 Tim James: That's great, thank you. And Deirdre, tell us a little about your experience at Imperial.

4:48 – 7:15 Deirdre Lyons: I think the most important aspect, from our point of view, was that it's actually integrated with the Oracle Health record. From a safety perspective, people aren't copying and pasting from one area to another, which was a big improvement.

For example, if I discuss surgical risks with a patient, the system will detail all those risks for me. So rather than typing notes after the fact—just like Dominic described—it now automatically captures it, and I can use all or part of it for the GP letter.

Like many people, we spent a lot of time post-clinic charting, but within about a day of starting this, my colleague stopped doing it. There were no more little scraps of paper to dispose of, and he found it much less painful and time-consuming. He could finish his clinic on time.

We're using it across Chelsea, Westminster, London North West, and Hillingdon Hospital, so a wide variety of clinicians are now involved. The product has mainly been used for outpatients, but some clinicians have used it in other settings as well.

For general gynecology, our main area, it has worked very, very well. Even some nurse specialists have adopted it.

I think it's been very helpful because, for many people, the cognitive burden of constant typing is a real struggle. It takes a while to get used to, but some people adopted it right away—my dyslexic colleague did so from day one.

And I think this is a big step forward. We're finding more and more people saying they like the way it works—it truly feels like the way of the future.

7:15 – 7:44 Tim James: Thanks, Deirdre. Productivity is a major focus in healthcare, both worldwide and within our national health services. You've spoken about cognitive burden, which is a real issue we're looking to address, but there's also the challenge of productivity. What are your perspectives on how this solution supports productivity?

7:45 – 9:53 Dominic Cavlan: The first thing we did was gather feedback as we introduced this into clinics—we had Oracle people in the clinics getting feedback live and running surveys.

The survey found that clinicians were saving at least five minutes per patient. This is significant, especially in Orthopaedics, where appointments are only 10 minutes. When we use tools to measure time spent in the records, we saw a reduction of 10–15% per encounter.

We asked doctors if this system would allow them to see an extra patient per clinic, and a third of respondents said yes.

The productivity gains are clear: clinicians can see patients more quickly and spend less time on admin in clinic sessions. People want to do more, see more patients, and do less admin.

Clinicians have become resistant to adding more outpatient clinics—not because they don't want to see patients, but because each clinic creates a mountain of administrative work.

Recently, we've heard consistent feedback that this tool makes the overall experience easier, and it's boosting morale. With a happier workforce, people are more prepared to go the extra mile.

9:53 - 10:02 Tim James: So, happier clinicians and hopefully some happier patients as well! Thank you for sharing that.

Deirdre, how about in your context?

10:02 – 11:10 Deirdre Lyons: I think clinicians are happier with less cognitive burden, which leads to increased productivity.

I agree that saving five minutes per patient adds up. When you're trying to train, type, and teach at the same time, you can't multitask that well. This lets you focus more on training, teaching, research, or improvement projects. One clinician said, "Well, I could see another patient in clinic." It gives more time to think and to talk to patients. It's difficult to quantify, but if you save five minutes per patient and see up to ten patients per clinic, that's another 50 minutes—enough to see another patient. The softer aspects of productivity are important, too. Clinicians who are happier are more likely to be more productive.

11:10 – 11:36 Dominic Cavlan: And Tim, if I can add, regarding clinician morale, not only have clinicians been happier, but our entire informatics and technical teams have enjoyed supporting clinicians with this tool.

11:37 – 12:32 Tim James: Thanks for that perspective. We've noticed that as well, from the Oracle Health side, supporting you during roll-out. There really is a sense of delight for end users getting the benefits from this functionality.

On that note, I want to talk about preparing teams. There's a big global conversation around artificial intelligence, and the agent is of course using AI technology. How is your organization preparing clinicians and teams to work with AI technologies? How do you see the role and clinical oversight evolving as AI becomes more embedded in practice?

12:32 – 15:28 Deirdre Lyons: Previously, people were using unregulated products, perhaps developed for private practice, but no one knew what those tools were doing. It was important to bring in a regulated product that met all requirements.

Many people were interested even before we brought the product in. Nominations came from our divisions and digital showcase events, where we talked about digital solutions, and we emailed all clinicians to gauge interest. Identifying interested people was key for starting the pilot and evaluating the product, as well as assisting Oracle in improving it.

Organizationally, it's a process. We set up a steering group over a year ago to review new products from a trust perspective, bringing together a clinical group to assess products and protocols. Clinical oversight remains vital—we always emphasize, as we use more of these tools, that you must check and verify the outputs. Even if it works correctly 90% of the time, you need to review it every time. It's important for clinicians to know they can accept or edit parts of the note—they don't have to take it as is. Clinical groups will continue to evolve and provide guidance on regulation and safety. Overall, working with Oracle has supported us as we bring in other digital products, too.

15:29 – 15:32 Tim James: Thanks, Dom, anything to add from your perspective? 15:32 – 17:08 Dominic Cavlan: As we roll this out, we keep reminding people that this is an assistant—it doesn't take away their decision-making abilities. The intention is to give people more time to be present in consultations and think critically, rather than using the appointment as a memory test. Clinicians are empowered to review and edit the notes, so the correspondence supports better thinking and better care. As Deirdre mentioned, it also gives us more time for training.

We're excited about the potential impact as this expands into the inpatient space, which involves even more collaborative consultations. I'm starting to engage with the medical school to prepare new doctors for this new way of working.

17:08 – 17:35 Tim James: I want to move us toward my final question, which is about patient experience. How have patients responded when clinicians use note generation during visits? How have your interactions with patients changed, if at all, and what feedback have you received?

17:35 – 19:33 Dominic Cavlan: From our surveys and my own experience, I've found that—when I'm not writing notes by hand or turning away to type at the computer—I can look patients in the eye and have a true, traditional clinical encounter. Patients appreciate that. Of course, we always ask for consent to use software for note-taking, and I explain it helps ensure I don't forget anything. Patients have definitely appreciated this, and we've received lots of positive feedback.

Working with Oracle, we've also seen that updates and changes we've suggested have been quickly implemented, which has improved the experience for everyone.

19:33 – 19:38 Tim James: How about you, Deirdre? What feedback have you received from patients?

19:38 – 20:54 Deirdre Lyons: After 30-plus years as a clinician, for the first time in a long time, I feel I can actually look at patients and talk to them directly, which is a big change.

Before, I had to type, switch between talking and typing, and worry about spelling. Now, I can just sit and listen. I think I listen better, too. Patients have noticed; some have remarked how nice it is to have eye contact with their clinician and really feel heard.

Clinicians are less stressed, no longer worried about note-taking for five minutes after the visit. Sometimes, improved encounter quality means we don't need as many follow-up visits. Better quality notes can mean fewer unnecessary returns.

20:55 – 22:10 Tim James: Thank you. As you said, Deirdre, these are "softer" benefits, but perhaps the most important ones. I absolutely agree. Ultimately, we want to care for patients—and patients want to be cared for. Good conversations, eye contact, and listening provide reassurance and support, which helps patients on their journey.

Thank you both so much for sharing your experience and your partnership with us at Oracle Health.

Today's conversation has shown that while AI is fundamentally transforming care delivery, the essential role of the clinician as healer, advocate, and trusted partner for patients remains unchanged.

Thank you, Dom and Deirdre, for your collaboration, your time, and your leadership in this journey.